Sometimes losing something important to you turns out to be surprisingly “wonderful.” Just take it from Dwight J. in Colorado, U.S.

After a day of hiking, Dwight noticed he could not hear as well as he was used to. He reached up and discovered his BP100 Sound Processor was gone. He looked everywhere for it, but he realised he must have lost it while out on the hike.

Dwight acted quickly and called Cochlear to get a replacement. To his surprise, the representative told him Cochlear no longer offered the BP100. They introduced Dwight to the Baha 5 Sound Processor, and he knew he wanted an upgrade.

“It’s wonderful,” Dwight said after upgrading.

He said he especially likes being able to connect to his sound processor with Bluetooth, stream phone calls and stream radio directly to his sound processor while out on a walk.

Dwight also said he carries his Cochlear Wireless Mini Microphone with him wherever he goes. “I put it on whoever I’m talking to, if I’m in a loud situation, so that I’m able to hear them,” he said.

When it comes to continuing his journey as a part of the Baha family, Dwight seems thrilled.

When my daughter Shay was around one year old, I noticed that she was not reacting to loud noises like other children, so I decided to take her to have her hearing checked. Her family and I found out that she had moderate hearing loss in her right ear and that she had had it since birth. Although doctors did a hearing test when Shay was a newborn, we were not informed at the time that she failed it.

A short time after learning of Shay’s hearing loss, we made an appointment with our local ear, nose and throat specialist. The specialist confirmed that she had moderate hearing loss and nerve damage to her right ear. She needed a hearing aid. Shay received her first among many hearing aids at the age of two. In the years that followed, she has had several hearing exams, but due to her young age we were uncertain about what she was truly hearing.

When Shay was nine and a half I took her in for a routine hearing check, where we found out that her hearing loss was much more severe than we had thought. We learned she couldn’t hear voices and typical speech patterns. It turns out a normal hearing aid was not working for her at all.

My heart sank with this news. Shay not being able to hear out of her right ear was a huge concern: she was struggling in school because she couldn’t hear the teacher; it was difficult for her to ride her bike or play outside because she couldn’t hear when a car was coming up behind her.

The doctor explained to us the process of bone conduction, and he said he believed Shay would be a perfect candidate for the Baha System. We made an appointment right away with the Michigan Ear Institute. Doctors there confirmed that she has severe mixed hearing loss (a combination of sensorineural and conductive hearing loss) in her right ear, and that a normal hearing aid would not work for her. We discussed the Baha System and decided that it would be our best option.

After doing some investigating I learned about the Baha Softband, normally used for very young children. Shay has had the Softband for a little over a year now. It was like night and day: finally, she could hear! I’ve included a video of her hearing with the Softband for the first time with this blog. After a little more than a year and after seeing the difference it has made in her life, we knew it was time to replace the Softband. This December at the age of 11, Shay will have implant surgery to start her new life with the Baha Connect System. She is so excited to keep hearing better!

Shay smiles while wearing the Softband.

Shay shows off her Softband before moving on to surgery to get the Baha Connect System.

Baha 5 user and football enthusiast Milan Szente shows off his Baha 5 shirt at a recent launch event in Budapest, Hungary.

Milan was born with conductive hearing loss on both ears and has been wearing a Baha solution since he was little. Recently he upgraded from the BP100 to the Baha 5 System, and shared his experiences at the event. It was his very first time talking in front of a big audience!

“I like the new drop-like shape of the Baha 5 Sound Processor, it is very elegant. My friends and family sometimes forget that I wear one, because it is so small! The new technology and the quality of sound are simply great. The accessories for it are very useful and make my life easier.”

“Currently my favorite is the TV Streamer. I always keep the Remote Control around because it is very important for me. I use the TV Streamer daily, the Mini Mic approximately once a week at school, and the Phone Clip from time to time. When I start University I will probably use the Mini Mic more often, and if I get a job in the future I will use the Phone Clip more frequently – probably while driving.”

Milan enjoys both to play and listen to music. This summer he participated for the second time at the Beats of Cochlea Festival in Poland, an international music festival for hearing impaired people from around the world. He performed on the piece “The beginning” on the e-guitar, his own composition. Something he wouldn’t have been able to do without his Baha solution.

But what Milan loves most is football – namely Italian team Juventus. He was actually inspired by the Cochlear representative in Central Europe, Antonio Sportelli.

“I am a Juventus fan because I have been inspired by Antonio, since I have met him. Antonio gave me a new nickname, because my name was ‘Milan’ and his favorite club is Juve, so he started calling me ‘Juve’. I am very proud of it. I love the football club because it is very cool and they play very good football. I am also a big fan of my hometown’s club ‘Videoton’. I usually go to matches with my father and friends.”

And his biggest dreams in life?

“I would like to work for Cochlear one day as they “gave me back hearing”, so I can hear now and always! Once in my life I would really like to watch a Juventus match live. I do find the Baha sound processors very interesting, so I would like to visit the Cochlear building in Sweden where they’re made. I would like to become as good in German and Swedish as I am in English (I have a level C1 language certification in English). There’s really no limits to what I can do.”

Could you – or anyone you know – apply for the Anders Tjellström UK & Ireland Scholarship?

The unique award is open to Baha recipients who are:

a UK or Irish resident and implanted at a UK or Irish Baha implant centre

currently completing their final year of school or sixth form college and who have been accepted onto a full-time university or other tertiary education course

18 years or over at application deadline

mature students who have been accepted onto a full-time or other tertiary education course

students currently undertaking a full-time university degree or other tertiary education course

studying for a minimum of 2 years

previous applicants are eligible to apply if they meet the above criteria

Applicants must submit their completed application form with all supporting documentation and required information by the deadline. No late applications or part of the application pack will be accepted. Please do not send original documents where copies have been requested, as documents will not be returned.

Charles Carmichael’s new hearing technology proved to be a lifesaver within weeks of being fitted.

When his diabetic wife, Eileen, collapsed at their home this summer, he was able to talk to the emergency dispatcher so they could identify if she was having another stroke.

“Her breathing was so faint, but I was able to hear her voice through my Baha [5 Power Sound Processor] and answer the responder’s questions,” said Charles who suffers from Chronic Suppurative Otitis Media (CSOM).

Struggling with hearing loss all his life, Charles was first implanted with a Baha solution on his left side in 2012. Three years later, he had his right ear fitted as well and his problems with discharging ears stopped. In June 2016 he upgraded to the Baha 5 Power and says the new technology is amazing.

“My original Baha sound processors were fantastic, but I still struggled in big groups, but with these new ones I can hear questions from the back of a room and have conversations with background music on – it’s no problem.”

Charles is his wife’s main carer and the new Baha technology now allows him to hear her clearly even when in another room.

Eileen said: “If anything happens and I need to raise the alarm, he can immediately hear me – I feel safer.”

When Andria Lewis, USA, lost her hearing suddenly, it came as a complete shock to both her and her husband.

Unable to hear and participate in the conversations around her, she withdrew into herself and stopped going out. But with the help from her Baha System, she was gradually able to return to the person she was before her hearing loss – outgoing, sociable and fun-loving.

One of the features she loves the most is being able to talk on the phone in her car – completely wireless.

“I could be driving and want to be handsfree. The phone rings and goes directly from the phone into my Baha 5 Sound Processor. It’s just been a godsend!”

Andria also loves the Smart App which enables her to go out hiking with her husband and easily block out the wind – or just switch to a different setting while in an outdoor café, simply by using her smartphone.

“We can go out to dinner. And going out to dinner used to mean me missing 90% of what was said. Now I have the setting that can block out noise, and I can actually sit and dine with my husband and have a conversation. It’s just such a pleasure.”

Single-sided deafness (SSD) is a unique challenge. It can be very frustrating to only be able to hear on one side, especially in noisy or crowded situations when you have little control over your environment.

At 13, Baha user Dan lost all the hearing in his right ear. The cause is still unclear, but doctors suspected a virus damaged his cochlea or auditory nerve. They told him there was nothing to be done and sent him home. Dan wore a hearing aid system for about 20 years, with mixed results.

In 2005, Dan’s wife Susan ran across an article about a new hearing solution called a Baha System. Dan went to his health care professional for a trial and spent a week comparing his hearing aids to a Baha sound processor on a headband. He said that trial gave him all the information he needed.

“For me, the Baha [sound processor] with the headband was superior in clarity, volume, and understandability.”

Now, after over a decade of advancements, he has upgraded to the smaller and more powerful Baha 5 Power Sound Processor and says the sound is better than ever.

“It’s so second nature, it’s like putting on your glasses,” says Dan. “You put it on and it works, you take it off and it stops. It does what I need it to do, and I don’t have to think about it throughout the day.”

Dan at his daughter’s wedding (wearing his previous Baha 3 Power Sound Processor)

He said the moment that really drove home the importance of his processor was when both of his daughters got married, two years apart. Both times, he was able to do the father/daughter dance and be completely in the moment. Even when his daughters rested their heads on his right shoulder, he was able to hear every word they said.

“That, to me, is totally, completely priceless,” he said. “I can never replicate it or duplicate it. It was a one-time shot, and the processor let me hear what’s most important.”

The Baha® Blog is written by the team at Cochlear Bone Anchored Solutions AB (Cochlear)|Opinions expressed in the Twitter feed and in any related comments reflect the personal opinions of the original authors, not those of Cochlear|The Baha® Blog and Cochlear are not responsible for the content or opinions expressed in external sites |In the United States and Canada, the placement of a bone-anchored implant is contraindicated in children below the age of 5|Please note that not all products mentioned are available in all countries